BY CONSTANTINE J. PAPPAS Why does a program that performs 400 percent better than its Technical Development Plan requires, has been fielded on over 100 ships, delivered under schedule and under budget, and performs with a weapons systems effectiveness factor that is 12 percent higher than its nearest competitor get…
AN INTERVIEW WITH BILL ANDERSON "Where did the private sector supply chain go? It’s kind of simple…the commercial sector supply chain has right-sized itself to respond to current and anticipated future demand.The private sector acted rationally based on signals from the government…shrinking demand from the customer triggers shrinking revenue flow…
Everyone knows that the F-35 is a stealth aircraft. This is one element of what makes it a fifth-generation aircraft. But what is not widely known is that the stealth or low observable (LO) character of the aircraft is significantly different from other stealth aircraft like the F-22. The F-35…
When NASA’s X-43 flight test vehicle separated from its Pegasus rocket booster and accelerated to high-Mach speeds powered by an air-breathing scramjet, the premise and promise of hypersonic flight were forever validated. With a first Mach-7 flight in March 2004, followed by a Mach-10 flight in November 2004, the hydrogen-burning…
This article features an interview with Randy Brown, 308th Armament Systems Wing Director, and Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Kato, 681st Armament Systems Squadron Commander, 308th Armament Systems Wing, Air Armament Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. This squadron is responsible for the acquisition, production, and sustainment of…
This article provides an overview of the C-5 modernization effort.
There are three broad categories of cost - development, procurement and sustainment; each of which is driven by a different set of factors. While development and procurement costs attract the most attention from the media and from Congress, they account for just 40% of total weapons system cost.
The economic battle for jobs and capital investment pits the Pacific Northwest against a rising challenger in the Southeast. (...) The Southern Aerospace Corridor's business-friendly climate recently led Boeing, much to the disappointment of political and labor leaders in the Northwest, to select South Carolina as the site of a…
